Sir Alex Ferguson, who completed 26 years in charge of Manchester United on
Tuesday, wants his players to rise to the substantial challenge of ending
the season with what would be the Scot’s third Champions League trophy
triumph.

Optimistic: Sir Alex Ferguson wants to celebrate 26 years in charge of United with a win against BragaPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

Ferguson was refusing to reflect on his past achievements on Tuesday night, focusing only on erasing the bitter memories of last year’s humiliating exit from the competition by securing qualification against Braga.

United were wounded last season when they were eliminated at the group stages but have fired out an ominous warning this year by winning their first three games in Group H, with Ferguson now requiring only a point to reach the knockout stage.

Chris Smalling is expected to make his first appearance of the campaign, after recovering from a broken metatarsal, and Ferguson is not prepared to take any risks by fielding a weakened team. In the bowels of a stadium carved from a quarry, there was a granite-like determination from October’s Premier League Manager of the Month to get the job done in the Portuguese north west.

And while Ferguson is convinced Borussia Dortmund, who came so close to beating Manchester City last month, are emerging as genuine contenders to rival the likes of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid for the title, he has claimed United will also be one of the teams to beat.

He said: “I made a point about how strong the Champions League is and therefore we’ll need to perform at a really high level to do that. You can’t look past Real Madrid and Barcelona, that’s fair to say, and I do think Dortmund will be about the Champions League this year.

“If you look at their league form, eight points behind Bayern Munich, you can tell they’re preparing themselves to do well in this competition. Those three teams have outstanding chances and I hope we can join them because we have a good squad of players.

“I think it’s a difficult tournament to win at any time. There has been a marked difference between this year and last year. We misread it last year. The previous group stages we were doing it quite easily but last year we certainly didn’t. This year I’ve made sure we’re playing a stronger team and hopefully we’ll get to the next stage and that’s what matters. We might win on Wednesday, we might lose or draw, but the important thing is that nine points gives us a great chance.”

Smalling has not played since May but should start at the Axa Stadium tonight, while Nani is also expected to feature despite his recent difficulties with Ferguson.

Nani’s future at United appears increasingly uncertain after contract negotiations stalled and the Portuguese winger’s relationship with his manager became even more fractious after last week’s Capital One Cup defeat at Chelsea, when he was publicly criticised for giving the ball away in the build-up to Eden Hazard’s penalty which forced extra time.

But Braga’s manager, Jose Peseiro, who gave Nani his debut at Sporting Lisbon, has admitted that Ferguson’s hardline stance is unlikely to bring out the best in his former protege.

He said: “All players have a different personalities. Some need an embrace and support, others don’t need any support. Sure, the English players don’t need too much support, but the Portuguese, Brazilian and Spanish players need more emotional contact.

“When Nani arrived at Manchester United he needed to forget this situation because he needed to play to the maximum and to fight for his place against others. Sir Alex Ferguson can’t speak differently to him than to the others. But I know some players need more. Nani needs more I think.

“I don’t know if the coach has less confidence in him, or if he just doesn’t feel right at this moment. I would like Nani to play tonight and play well – but not too well or to score in our goal.”

Braga need a victory to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive but have beaten the last four English teams to have played here, including Arsenal and Liverpool, without conceding a goal. And Peseiro has admitted his players are on a mission to wreck Ferguson’s anniversary and boost their hopes of reaching the gruo.

“I would like to stay as long as he has but my team don’t want to give anything to Sir Alex Ferguson,” he said. “I’ve spoken with him three, four five times and it’s incredible. You can learn things from him in 10/15 minutes. But on Wednesday we want to give nothing to Manchester.”